Off Stump

After Virat Kohli's stupendously successful start as India captain (admittedly in a different format), the cries for Dhoni to be replaced as captain for the shorter formats will undoubtedly renew again. And while Kohli might be ready to take over, I think India still have a lot to gain from Dhoni the batsman and captain at the Champions Trophy in England next year. Aside from the fact that we are not exactly rolling in good new limited overs keeper-batsmen and couldn't therefore find an adequate replacement at short notice, Dhoni has looked fitter and fresher since he gave up Test cricket. He has also, in a distinct departure from the recent past, looked keen to get stuck into situations tactically and work out ways to win with newer players. The Zimbabwe tour was a pretty light weight test but it definitely started there and its carried on into the current series against New Zealand. Most hearteningly, he has not been stubborn about his own waning skills as a batsman and ...

Disclaimer: I'm an unabashed fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a player and captain (see here ,  here and here ) and believe he's still the best choice as leader for the Indian team everywhere. New Zealand's astonishing turnaround in the Wellington Test match has (not unsurprisingly) led to a renewed call from Sidharth Monga on ESPNcricinfo for a change in the leadership of the Indian team, ie Dhoni's removal as Test skipper. While I have to admit that Monga has been consistent in his views on this for sometime now and the fact that Dhoni's defensive attitude is what costs India opportunities, it would be better if he strove a little harder to present facts fully and not selectively. I don't usually see the point in picking apart opinion pieces but given his latest tirade had so many factual holes and selective interpretations, I feel compelled to do so. " India will have gone 14 Tests and three years without an overseas Test win. Only Zimbabwe have...

Much is being made of the fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has the highest number of overseas losses amongst Indian captains after Auckland. If Christian Ryan's fantasy came true and the fans had their way, he would have been sacked long ago and one of Kohli/Rohit/Pujara made skipper and that alone would have turned India's fortunes. At the risk of coming across as a Dhoni apologist, that's just pure balderdash in my opinion. First the stats. Dhoni's away win loss ratio is still a good deal better than many captains of the past and of those above him, Wadekar and Kapil Dev's two wins each came in the same year (1971 and 1986 respectively) and they lost the captaincy soon after as losses started to mount. Six of Ganguly's wins came against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (vs just one for Dhoni) leaving Dravid as the only captain who's undisputedly done better. India (and Dhoni) have taken a severe beating since 2011 and among international captains (with 8 o...

The only breed more inconsistent than the Indian seamers are the Indian fans. If you went by the headlines, fan comments in social media, and interactions with followers of the Indian cricket team, India constantly bounce back and forth between being the best team in the world and worse than Bangladesh/Zimbabwe. There is no middle ground. Reactions over the last three years would bear testament to this: April 2011: India win the World Cup after a good tour of South Africa. All hail the best team in the world. January 2012: Successive 0-4 batterings against England and Australia. India are the pits and Dhoni and all the senior players should be sacked (Dravid and Laxman retire) June 2013: India win the Champions Trophy after wiping out Australia 4-0. Best team in the world again. February 2014: Away losses mount again after defeats to South Africa and New Zealand. Back to being the pits (sack Dhoni etc) Passion is a great quality but when not tempered with patience (as is...

Now that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has essentially announced his decision to stay on as skipper of the side till at least the 2015 World Cup, every ODI series India plays hereon is a stage for defining the plans and alternatives for that tournament. And none of them will be more critical than the current series against New Zealand given its the closest the team will get to play in conditions resembling that in the actual World Cup. A lot gets written about India's poor record in Test cricket away from home even though its improved hugely since the turn of the millennium. Their one-day record away from home is not outstanding either with a win-loss ratio well below 1 (though only Australia and South Africa are better). What is more concerning is the fact that Australia and New Zealand are two of the three worst venues for the team thereby making the title defence even more challenging. Their recent record and especially the win in the Champions Trophy certainly gives cause for hope ...